Rich Guinness infused chocolate cake dipped in Jameson Whiskey chocolate ganache topped with creamy Bailey’s Irish Cream buttercream… the perfect cupcake for the Irish Car Bomb lover in your life!
I had an order for my Irish Car Bomb cupcakes so I decided to try something new with them. As you might remember, in my original recipe, I filled the cupcakes with the ganache, leaving the top open to expose the ganache.
This time I dipped the top of the cupcake in the ganache, creating a shiney, chocolatey cap for the cupcake. I chose a higher quality chocolate for the ganache using a 70% cocoa Lindt chocolate. Also modified was the buttercream recipe, adding more sugar & Bailey’s. I like how these turned out & think they are a much better quality cupcake.
View the slideshow below for more photos!
Enjoy!
UPDATE: It seems as though the name of these cupcakes has offended some people. It was never my intention for this to be the case. Please know that the idea behind these cupcakes comes from an American drink that my husband would order at the bar. The “Irish” in the name refers to the drink’s Irish ingredients; typically Guinness stout, Baileys Irish Cream, and Jameson Irish Whiskey. The “car bomb” refers to the fact that the drink is a “bomb shot”… meaning the shot is dropped into the glass of beer. Please accept my apology if the name of these cupcakes has offended you.
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Ingredients
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup Guinness beer
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
Jameson Ganache
- 4oz dark 70% cocoa chocolate
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp corn syrup
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp Irish Whiskey
Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream
- 2lbs powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 airline size bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream
- 1oz finey chopped 70% dark chocolate
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cupcake pan with liner.
- Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
- Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream. Add cooled chocolate mixture to the bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Add the flour to the wet mixture and whisk until combined and no flour lumps remain. Be careful not to over mix.
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ganache
- Chop chocolate into very small pieces and place in a large heat-safe bowl.
- In a small sauce pan over medium high, heat the cream until just simmering.
- Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and let stand for 2-3 minutes WITHOUT stirring.
- Stir with a spatula until smooth.
- Add the butter, corn syrup and whiskey and stir until combined.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the Irish cream and mix on high for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Assembly
- After the cupcakes have completely cooled, dip each upside down in the ganache. Let the ganache set up for about an hour.
- Using a Wilton #6B tip fitted on a piping bag, pipe swirls of frosting on top of the ganache. Make sure to pipe just in the center of the cupcake so that the ganache can still be seen on the sides.
- Garnish with the finely chopped chocolate.
Irish Car Bomb Cupcakes
Ingredients
Guinness Chocolate Cupcakes
- 1 cup Guinness beer
- 1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter
- 3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 2 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 3/4 tsp salt
- 2 eggs
- 2/3 cup sour cream
Jameson Ganache
- 4oz dark 70% cocoa chocolate
- 1/3 cup heavy cream
- 1 Tbsp corn syrup
- 1 Tbsp unsalted butter
- 1 tsp Irish Whiskey
Bailey's Irish Cream Buttercream
- 2lbs powdered sugar
- 1 cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 airline size bottle of Bailey's Irish Cream
- 1oz finey chopped 70% dark chocolate
Instructions
Cupcakes
- Preheat oven to 350 F degrees and line cupcake pan with liner.
- Bring Guinness and butter to a simmer in a heavy saucepan over medium heat.
- Add cocoa powder and whisk until smooth. Set aside to cool.
- In another bowl, whisk together the eggs and sour cream. Add cooled chocolate mixture to the bowl and whisk to combine.
- In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking soda and salt.
- Add the flour to the wet mixture and whisk until combined and no flour lumps remain. Be careful not to over mix.
- Fill cupcake liners 2/3 full. Bake 18-20 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.
- Cool in pans for 5 minutes before removing to a wire rack to cool completely.
Ganache
- Chop chocolate into very small pieces and place in a large heat-safe bowl.
- In a small sauce pan over medium high, heat the cream until just simmering.
- Pour the hot milk over the chocolate and let stand for 2-3 minutes WITHOUT stirring.
- Stir with a spatula until smooth.
- Add the butter, corn syrup and whiskey and stir until combined.
Buttercream
- In the bowl of your stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugar.
- Add the Irish cream and mix on high for 3-5 minutes or until light and fluffy.
Assembly
- After the cupcakes have completely cooled, dip each upside down in the ganache. Let the ganache set up for about an hour.
- Using a Wilton #6B tip fitted on a piping bag, pipe swirls of frosting on top of the ganache. Make sure to pipe just in the center of the cupcake so that the ganache can still be seen on the sides.
- Garnish with the finely chopped chocolate.
This looks delicious! I want my husband to try to make these. Yummy!
Let me know if you make them!! Take pictures! 🙂 Enjoy!! xoxoxo
These sound delicious! Living in the UK however, I don’t think the name is very appropriate. Car bombs and violence in Ireland are a serious issue, not sure a cupcake should be named after it?
Here in the USA, Sandra, the Irish Car Bomb is a drink where you take your shot of liquor and drop it into your beer and chug it! The cupcake is named after the drink because the same ingredients are used in the cupcake. Nothing to do with actual car bombings!
Oh I understand! I still plan to make them sometime, hopefully soon. Though I will have to rename them.
I found this on Pinterest and they look delicious. But I agree that the name is cringe worthy when you have family that grew up in Belfast and lived through the worst of the Troubles when bombing was a regular occurance. I understand that the name is taken from a drink but clearly the reference is still a negative and unhappy one for lots of people who are affected by the conflict in Northern Ireland. I am American and live in the US but am still sensitive to the issue. You might consider renaming the cupcake.
Thanks for the feedback 🙂 But here in the USA – there is a drink which is made with all Irish liquors where you drop one drink into another… like a bomb. That’s why it’s called what it is… it has no actual reference to any car bombings or political implications.
Made the cupcakes last night – turned out great and really delicious! The cake was nice and moist. I had to use much more Irish cream in the buttercream frosting so good thing I had a full sized bottle, but all the better since the buttercream has a very strong Irish cream flavor.
I wasn’t able to dip the cupcakes, somehow the chocolate wasn’t sticking, so I just took a knife and spread it instead, but it still looked fine. Not quite as smooth looking as yours though.
Hubby is bringing a dozen of these to work today, we were trying to figure out a better name since we are in the UK but haven’t come up with anything clever yet.
Yay! I’m glad they turned out good for you! 🙂 More Irish Cream is never a bad thing! hehe
Sometimes, the ganache does that for me too, more cream usually helps! 🙂 I’d love to see a picture if you have it!
Beautiful!
I made them last year…I think it will turn into an annual event. 🙂
I made these today. Actually I had not seen your site when I made these, but I made them almost exactly the same! They are so delicious! Great piping on that icing too! My buttercreamed turned out great (best batch so far) but a little stiff so I was not able to do a nice pipe (had to just do plain piped, but since they were just for my husband and I, that is ok. Pictures will be on my blog tomorrow.
Kristi…. I can’t wait to see how yours turned out!!!!!!!!
http://www.kmevans.net/blog/irish-car-bomb-cupcakes/
Here is my effort.
I have looked at this recipe many times and finally made it for my husband today. He loved it!! It has taken 18 years of being with him to finally find a cake recipe he really likes 🙂
Thanks a bunch for posting this!!
So I can’t stop bragging about your website to everyone at work. I love love love this site. My employees love me because Im always bringing in a new goody on Fridays. I told everyone I was going to make the Irish Car Bomb cupcakes for tomorrow, Do u think they’ll still look as pretty if I do everything today?
I always make my cupcakes the day before they are needed. I usually don’t have time to do them they day-of. (Unless I bake the day before and frost the morning of). They will be just fine! Don’t put them in the fridge, but keep them in a cool, dry place! <3 Good luck!
I ended up making them the night before and they were so amazing. Everyone at work loved them & told me that was the best cupcake yet. I can’t wait to make other cupcakes and let everyone try. Thanks for all the yummy recipes!
@drunkencupcakes is using this image to sell their products on Twitter & Facebook & Website.
For some reason I have stopped getting your newsletter and would like to know what to do.By the way,your recipes are the greatest!
Hi Chuck – I have been out of town on a family emergency for the last 2 weeks and a new newsletter hasn’t gone out. I’ll make sure your email is on the list and if not, I’ll add it. Thanks!
I plan on making these cupcakes . In the recipe for the ganache where do you add the corn syrup?
Thank you
Sorry, I missed that! Thanks for checking it. I updated the recipe. Add the corn syrup the same time you add the butter. It helps to loosen the ganache and add shine. Thanks!
I look forward to trying these out for St. Patrick’s Day but as an Irish person , I will be renaming them and I would strongly recommend that you do the same. The name is very offensive . I know it’s called after a drink, but this too is offensive and if you’ll pardon the pun, in very poor taste and a waste of good Irish liquor!
Thanks for the feedback!
If you want the ganash to be firm like the brand Hostess Cupcakes what should I do. I don’t want to whip and have it turn out like frosting?
Use a different recipe.